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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Well, I didn't get to do my teal blocks Saturday or during the week last week like I intended but I did sew all week. Friday night, I finished putting together my Friendship Star quilt and I must say that I am so pleased with it. I have never used black to sash anything with and I really like how it looks. The quilt is made up of big friendship star block (12 inch finished) and the borders are 6 1/2" borders with 6 1/2" friendship stars on the corners. Some of the 12 inch blocks were birthday blocks from many years ago that I received from my quilting group. I made a lot of them myself to make the quilt as big as I wanted.

I found out something lately that took me by surprise. I finally realized that the thing I like least about quilting is putting borders on. I like making blocks and putting sashing on. I like binding and quilting but I never realized that the biggest thing that bothers me or stops me from finishing is the borders. I can be almost finished with a project and I'll put it up for awhile and not finish it. When I look at my project lists, a lot of the unfinished projects just need a final border to be finished. Hmm, I made up my mind when I realized this that I'm going to stop procrastinating and get over this obstacle. I pulled two more projects out Saturday and started pulling fabric for them. I was going to work on them Saturday but didn't get a chance. I went to sew with a few friends at the church and we worked on charity quilts. So, when I finally got home, I cut the borders for two of the quilts that were almost finished and started putting the borders on them. I finished these two quilt tops up Sunday afternoon and they are both now ready for quilting.....I was so pleased with myself and so glad I was able to sew and get these together over the weekend. So, for the weekend I finished three quilt tops! Woo hoo, I love it. It was good to get these done. Do you have a hang up or something that stops you from completing your projects, or is it just me? Now that it's finally dawned on me that this is one of the things I don't like, I'm going to make sure this doesn't cause me anymore problems. After all, it's just another step in the process and shouldn't be a stumbling block and I'm going to really work on not letting it affect the process.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

I took off yesterday to be with my daughter in law and youngest grandson. He had to have nose surgery. He broke his nose over the weekend on the trampoline. Ouch! He did great yesterday but has to stay calm and not run around all week. He's 5 years old. That is going to be really hard to make him be calm all week! I really feel for my DIL and son. They will have their hands full this week. I'm so happy everything went good.

After we brought him home, I got him some bubblegum ice cream and a big Lego Farm set to put together. My DIL, grandson and I sat at the kitchen table and put the set together. I should say my DIL put it together. I sat and talked to the grandson while she did it....We watched some movies after that. It was a stressful time but ended up being a pleasant day too.

I left their house when it was time for him to take a nap and went shopping. I shopped for shoes and a new purse and of course, went to a quilt store. I just gotta go to a quilt shop when I'm off work, right??? I had skipped breakfast and lunch and was starving. I stopped and ate then went to tatting. A friend of mine and I are showing some ladies from our quilt group how to tat and they are doing really well. There were about 6 ladies Saturday that we were teaching and all of them have learned to flip so far! That's the hardest part to learn. They are all working on chains right now and doing well. One of the ladies came to be with us last night for tatting and she's got the chain stitch down, so we talked to her about picots and she started doing those. Next lesson will be rings and then we move onto patterns from there. So excited to show this craft to some ladies that really want to learn....

After tatting, I got home in time to make the last two Butterfly blocks and I also made 5 friendship star blocks. Four of these are for my Friendship Star quilt. They are 6 1/2" blocks and will be cornerstones for the outside border. The rest of the quilt is made up of big friendship stars that are 12 1/2" blocks. I finally made up my mind to do the little stars on the corners with a 6 1/2" border. I'll do that tonight. The other star will be for my Rainbow Scrap quilt that I'm working on...

Here's the last two butterfly blocks I'll be making.

Here are the little friendship star blocks. 4 of these are cornerstones for my big Friendship star quilt and the other one is for my Rainbow scrap challenge.

I'm still working on getting caught up on the Rainbow scrap challenge but now I'm closer. til next time, happy stitching!

Sunday, March 16, 2014

I hope you had a great National Quilting Day yesterday. I was lucky enough to spend it with a new friendship group. There were fourteen of us in all and we had coffee at a local coffee shop first then went to Shirley's house, the leader of the group. We unloaded our machines and other things we would be working on and visited for a little while. We then headed to a restaurant and had lunch to celebrate the first quarter birthdays. Yum, food, fun and friends. Can't beat it....We went back to Shirley's house and my friend Cheryl and I started teaching a few of the ladies how to tat. Lots of laughter and fun along the way. We had a few quick learners and get the "flip" right off but we will be continuing to instruct everyone and hopefully everyone will understand and get to know how to do this great artform. I didn't sew at all even though I dragged my machine and some projects with me but I had a great time with some new and old friends....

I got home and the grandbaby was there and we got to spend the rest of the evening with her and the great-much needed rain.
Today, I got up and fed the grandbaby. We then headed into my half sewing room/half baby room and while she played with her doll house, I cut and sewed this great block. I used teal for the butterfly so I could count it as my Rainbow scrap block! I have two more of these cute butterfly blocks to make but they will be made in different colors. These are our summer blocks for my friendship group. I'll turn them in for a chance to win more blocks. For every block turned in, your name goes into a drawing for all the blocks. I hope I win as I love this block.

I finished up some tatting this week and wanted to show you what I ahd been working on. I haven't shown you any of my tatting in a while so I thought it was time to share.

I finished this blue cross Monday night. The other little bookmark started out as a cross but I didn't have enough thread so I made what I could out of it. I finished this one Wednesday night.

Last but not least, I've been working on this necklace for a few weeks and finally finished it. I will be making a bracelet to go with it too. I'll be giving this one to my sister as these are her colors. I made a blue and white one for myself but my niece saw them and loved them so I gifted them to her. Now, I'll be making me another blue one. I love this easy pattern. It's not fast but it's easy to remember and fun to make....

Now, it's time to go to lunch witht he kids and hopefully, we'll get back in time for me to do more sewing. I haven't had my fill yet this whole week and I really want ot catch up on my Rainbow scrap blocks. Til next time, have a great week and happy stitching.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

I hope you have had a good weekend. I've had a busy weekend with the grandkids but I have had a little time to sew too. I have been working on my Rainbow Scrap challenge blocks this week and I got my Boxed in Block done for this month. I didn't do a pink one as I had already made a pink one last year for this project...one more block closer!

I also got these little 6 1/2" blocks done. I am playing catch up for the rainbow scrap challenge. These are from January and I have alot of catching up to do but these blocks are fun and easy to do so far and I'm hoping to get caught up soon.

I made more Carolina chain blocks too...I made these for this month's color but I also made alot more colors and I had enough to put together 9 blocks. I now only need 10 more blocks to finish this quilt....woo hoo, I'm so excited. This has really been a fun and easy project and I have enjoyed it alot. These blocks are easy and quick to make and you can just sit and sew them together without thinking. I just went in my sewing room and shut the door and just sewed away the stress

I put together these blocks too. These are cobblestone blocks or that was the name of the pattern I have. I have seen these same blocks on different blogs and I've seen them referred to as Happy blocks, whichever name you choose, these are easy too.

After the grandkids left today, I finished this little wallhanging. I quilted it this week but put the finishing touches on it today with binding, a hanging sleeve and a label. This is another project that's been laying around for a few years that needing finishing.

That's all I have for now. I had so much going on this weekend, I could not make it to the Dallas Quilt show. This is the first show I've missed in years but there are others coming soon that I hope to go to. I hope you have a good week and get to sew or craft and show us what you're working on. Til next time, happy stitching, Linda

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Here's some of my blocks for the Rainbow scrap challenge. This month's color is teal or bluish green from the Caribbean Sea. I'm still searching through my stash to find some scraps. I made 33 different blocks yesterday but they weren't all teal. I'm playing catch up from February too so I did some pink blocks too. I made blocks for my Carolina Chain quilt and Cobblestone quilt.

I made this little wallhanging during the week. This was a fun little project. I've had this little kit for about five years and decided to finally put it together. I used fabric markers for the words and hearts. The hearts were two different methods. The bottom part was paper piecing and the top was just regular piecing. I had to make half square triangles and quarter square triangles for the top of the hearts.

The next block is for a swap in our guild. It is a disappearing pinwheel block. Here are the steps to make it.....

Here's two hand embroidered wallhangings I finished. I took an embroidery class to do this project.

I crocheted around these two little fleece blankets.

Last but not least I put the top together with black sashing and scrappy cornerstones for my friendship star quilt. I'm trying to decide on the final border. I'm thinking about a full black border or a black border with small friendship stars for the corners....I'm really leaning toward the small blocks on the corners but not sure yet....

I'll show you the finished quilt top once I make my mind up.

I have several other blocks to make this week and I'll show you those once they are all together. I hope you have a great week. Until next time, happy stitching!

The Kind Hearted Pledge

Bargello Bowl

A Quiltville Mystery Quilt

Carolina Crossroads

Orange Crush

Double Delight - I want to make this one too...soon.

Carolina Christmas-I want to make one soon

A Tisket A Tasket BOM 2009

2009 Christmas Quilt for Patchalot Patterns

Christmas Sparkler 2008

Free Pattern from Patchalot More.blogspot.com

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My Rainbow

Your rainbow is intensely shaded green, white, and blue.

What is says about you: You are a contemplative person. You appreciate friends who get along with one another. You share hobbies with friends and like trying to fit into their routines. Those around you admire your fresh outlook and vitality.

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About Me

In 1992, I started watching a quilting show(by accident) and my first thought was, who would want to make quilts? The more I watched, the more intrigued I became... I haven't been able to stop quilting since - nor do I want to. Now I think a day without quilting is like a day without sunshine....I love it and can't get enough of it. Quilting has always been my favorite thing to do but tatting and knitting come in a close second....